(Deuteronomy 7:1 - 7:26)
"When Jehovah your god brings you into the land you are about to enter and occupy, ahead of your arrival he will clear out many nations, the Hethites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, seven peoples that are more numerous and more powerful than you are. When Jehovah your god delivers these nations into your hands and you have defeated them, you must, as a divine sacrifice, utterly destroy them. Make no treaties with them. Show no mercy to them. You must not intermarry with them, giving your daughters in marriage to their sons, or taking their daughters for your sons’ brides, for their children would lead your children away from me to worship other gods. The anger of Jehovah then would flare up and he would immediately destroy you. This is how you should treat them: tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, cut down their Asherah poles, and burn their carved idols.
"For you are a people sacred to Jehovah your god. Of all the people on earth, Jehovah has chosen you to be his cherished possession. He did not chose you and single you out as the object of his favor because you were the most populous nation, for indeed you are the least. It is because he loved you and to keep the oath he swore to your forefathers that Jehovah used his might to bring you out of the land of slavery and free you from the power of the Pharaoh, the ruler of Egypt. Know, therefore, that Jehovah your god is the only god, a faithful god who keeps his pact and shows his favor to the thousandth generation of those who love him and keep his commandments. But he exacts retribution upon those who reject him by destroying them. He will not be lenient to those who oppose him, but will pay them back -- personally. Therefore, take care to follow the commandments, the laws, and decrees I am giving you here today.
"If you listen to these laws, follow and obey them, then Jehovah your god will keep the pact he made with you and show you his favor, as he swore to your forefathers. He will love you, bless you, and grant you many children. In the land he swore to your forefathers he would give you, he will bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your fields, your grain, wine, and olive oil, and increase your herds with calves and your flocks with lambs and kids. You will be blessed above all peoples. Among your people or among your livestock there will no male who is impotent or female who is infertile. And Jehovah will protect you from all sickness. He will not allow you to suffer from any of the horrible diseases you knew in Egypt, but instead he will inflict them upon those who hate you.
"You must destroy all the nations Jehovah your god delivers into your hands. Show them no mercy. Worship not their gods, for they will lead you to destruction. If, in your mind, you say to yourself, 'How can we drive out these nations, for they are more powerful than we are?' you must remember what Jehovah your god did to the Pharaoh and to all Egypt. Then you won't be afraid. For you personally witnessed the terrors Jehovah your god inflicted upon them, the miracles and the wonders, and the power and the might by which Jehovah your god brought you out of Egypt. Jehovah your god will do the same to all the people you now fear. He will even dispatch his aerial warships to harass and root out those survivors who have hidden themselves from you, and he will destroy them as well. Therefore, do not look in dread upon these nations, for Jehovah your god is here with you, and he is a mighty and a fearsome god.
"Jehovah your god will drive out those nations before you -- but gradually. You must not expel them all at once, for that would allow the wild animals to propagate too quickly for you to handle. But Jehovah your god will deliver them your hands. He will wage war upon them vigorously until they are completely destroyed. He will hand over to you their kings, whose names you will erase from the memory of man. No one will be able to oppose you; you will destroy them all. You must burn their idols. Don't desire to possess the gold and silver that adorns them. Don't take any of it for yourselves, for it will lead to your ruin. It is an abomination to Jehovah your god! Do not bring it into your homes, or else you, like it, will be marked for sacrificial destruction. You must totally abhor and reject such things, for they are devoted to utter destruction as a divine sacrifice."
Notes
1. The Hethites (definitely not the Hittites as most translations refer to them) were a tribe of Canaanites, presumably the descendants of Canaan’s son Heth. The Girgashites were also Canaanites and inhabited lands near the Sea of Galilee. The Amorites, probably not Canaanites, have been discussed, they inhabiting lands east of the Jordan. Their kingdoms, those of Og and Sihon, have already been destroyed by the Israelites. The Canaanites referred to are probably those who lived south of Phoenicia, in the northwest portion of the Promised Land. The Perizzites lived in the hill country west and north of the Dead Sea. The term was also used to describe anyone who was villager, rather than a nomad. The Hivites, probably Canaanites, lived mostly in the north. but had settlements as far south as Jerusalem. The Jebusites, who were either Canaanite or related to the Amorites, inhabited land around Jerusalem, and their original capital, Jebus, may have been Jerusalem. It cannot escape notice that the ethnic composition of pre-Israelite Holy Land was exceedingly complex. It is also very ambiguous, with nearly every people or tribe mentioned in the Bible the subject of conflicting theories as to their origin and racial derivation and to their identification with historically established nations.
2. Jehovah demands not only the destruction of Israel's enemies, but total genocide -- no half measures, no diplomatic solution permitting coexistence, no quarter, no mercy given. Those inhabiting the territory granted to the Israelites are not to be merely expelled, but wiped out. They are not allowed to have freedom of religion or the right to intermarry with the Israelites -- more than that, they are not allowed to exist or even to be remembered after their death. (Jehovah's human rights record makes Hitler and Stalin look like choir boys. Even the Nazis tried to expel the Jews before resorting to their extermination by gas chamber.)
3. Since Jehovah demands that Israel's enemies be completely wiped out, it is odd that he also insists that they not intermarry with the Israelites. How could they have the opportunity to do so, since the enemy peoples are to be all dead by the time Israel settles in their land? And why should Jehovah be worried that the Israelites would worship their enemies' gods when they will have already destroyed all their places of worship?
4. The Asherah is a Semitic mother goddess also known as Ashtaroth. She was a very important goddess, widely worshiped in the ancient Middle East. The wooden poles mentioned were phallic, fertility symbols connected with her worship. (Maypoles come to mind.)
5. Jehovah can fulfill his commitment to settle the Israelites on the land he has promised them, but how can he make good on his promise that no Israelite man will be impotent, no Israelite woman will be infertile, nor will any of their livestock and, moreover, that no one will ever become sick -- if they are faithful to him? This spawns the most dangerous and destructive fallacy of the ignorant, that illness or physical infirmity is a punishment for sins. Anything bad happening to a person is caused by his immorality or the insufficiency of his worship. Anyone who becomes ill or is incapable of having children is suspected of being a sinner or else remiss in fulfilling his religious duties. Every misfortune that befalls a person is a punishment from God. This irrational belief has been astonishingly persistent and pervasive, and the evil resulting from it can hardly be underestimated.
6. Jehovah assures Moses that he will destroy even the enemies who have gone into hiding with what is literally translated as "hornets" (the Hebrew word tsirah). Some have rendered this literally, other translators have reasoned it is meant figuratively and have used the word "terror" or “panic” or something similar. Neither makes sense. That God, after destroying enemy armies, would hunt down the stragglers with swarms of hornets is more than unlikely, it's positively silly, even granted that Middle Eastern hornets are pretty nasty. If Jehovah were God and had the power to control the minds of the insects and make them attack Israel's enemies (and stop them from attacking Israelites), why would he bother to use so crude and ineffective a weapon? Why not send down fire from the sky or open up the earth to swallow his enemies, or, for that matter, simply uncreate what he wants to destroy? As we have seen, Jehovah is more likely a humanoid from an advanced civilization, probably extraterrestrial, and his means and methods of conducting war, though puzzling to those of the 2nd Millennium BC, are perhaps not beyond the comprehension of us in the 3rd Millennium AD. What the Bible authors call "hornets" could be combat aircraft rather than insects. To the ancient or the primitive wouldn't a helicopter resemble a hornet, with a tail and a sting? It is possible that the airship that guided the Israelites and hovered over their camp day and night was large enough to contain other, smaller craft, such as those used for warfare, such as those that might resemble hornets. Modern sightings of UFOs have frequently described large, even massively large, "mother" ships that are cigar shaped. (The "cloud" hovering above the Israelites was always referred to as a "pillar.") Since Jehovah is seen as fighting alongside the Israelites, it seems likely his contribution involved providing what we would call air support.
7. Jehovah qualifies his "absolute destruction to Israel's enemies," by saying it will be done gradually and not in one fell swoop. The reason given is that the resultant, empty land will be taken over by wild animals. Surely the Middle East, even the ancient Middle East, is not a part of the world customarily overrun by wild animals. What would the animals be that would hinder humans from occupying empty territory? And what would be the delay on the part of the Israelites in taking over the land once it was vacated? This makes no sense. Jehovah makes a lot of boasts and promises he can't really fulfill, and then offers lame alibis to excuse the limitation of his powers.
8. The Israelites, in burning the idols of their enemies, are forbidden to plunder the gold and silver from them. Why wouldn't the gold and silver be melted down and used for some other purpose; surely precious metals are fungible. But perhaps Jehovah is correct in discouraging in his people the lust for gold and silver.
9. Jehovah explains how he has chosen the Israelites to be his people. This was not because they were strong or populous, but he does not tell us why it is he has chosen them -- or why he freed them from their bondage in Egypt. Jehovah constantly deplores their faithlessness and castigates their character. He has little trust in them. He conducted or ordered several purges of the disobedient. He has been tempted to wipe them out more than once and did indeed cause all the adults to die out at the end of their 40-year exodus. He continually has to threaten them so that they will do what he wants of them. So what it is about the Israelites that makes him love them? Perhaps Jehovah became the god of an obscure people such as the Israelites because all the jobs for “gods” were taken. He chose them because beggars can't be choosers. Egypt didn't need another god and every people the Israelites come in contact with have their own national gods. No positions as a national god for an important people available! And Jehovah seems to be an outcast among the gods. He hates them all and is in fierce competition with them. (There is probably some back story here.) Jehovah, the Jehovah of Moses, insinuated the role of Israel's god by claiming to be the Jehovah known to Abraham, but who had not been seen for generations. That the Jehovah of Moses is so insistent and so defensive about his position confirms the suspicion, the likelihood, that he is in fact an impostor -- but an acceptable one who fulfills his role as a god. (And he may have had an advantage over other gods that were absentee deities.)
Showing posts with label Canaanites. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Canaanites. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 29, 2015
Saturday, June 6, 2015
Victory Over the Canaanites of Arad
(Book of Numbers 21:1 - 21:3)
When the Canaanite king of Arad, in the Negev, heard that the Israelites were approaching on a caravan route, he attacked them and succeeded in carrying off some spoils. Subsequently the Israelites made this vow to Jehovah, "If you will deliver these people into our hands, we will destroy all their towns in your name." Jehovah heard their plea and gave Israel victory in battle over the Canaanites. The Israelites destroyed their towns as an offering to Jehovah, and so the place was named Hormah [meaning destruction].
Notes
1. The Israelites, who have no confidence that they can excel in battle without a little divine help, call upon Jehovah to give them an edge with the Canaanites of Arad who have attacked them. If victorious, they promise to destroy all their towns as a dedication to Jehovah. Considering how much Jehovah loves death and destruction, this was no doubt an attractive offer to him. It is interesting how most offerings to Jehovah involve destruction, slaughtering, killing, burning. Most ancient peoples and, later, Christians and Muslims would make constructive dedications to their gods -- temples and shrines, mosques and cathedrals. These seem to be less common among the early Israelites, who, after all, have had little capacity to build anything, except for the Tabernacle, which is merely a fancy, mobile tent.
2. Denied entry into the Promised Land, the wandering Israelites enter a period in which they make war upon any people they happen to encounter. Their indiscriminate warfare meets with Jehovah's approval and he lends them continuing aid.
3. Arad in the northern Negev was located about 20 miles west of the Dead Sea ( 5 miles west of modern Arad and just south of the border of the modern West Bank). A very ancient Canaanite settlement, it dates back to 4000 BC, but was abandoned about 2650 BC. It was still deserted during the period of the Exodus and not reoccupied until the 11th Century BC. Its inclusion in the narrative is, therefore, indisputably anachronistic. The location of Hormah (or Zephath) is unknown.
When the Canaanite king of Arad, in the Negev, heard that the Israelites were approaching on a caravan route, he attacked them and succeeded in carrying off some spoils. Subsequently the Israelites made this vow to Jehovah, "If you will deliver these people into our hands, we will destroy all their towns in your name." Jehovah heard their plea and gave Israel victory in battle over the Canaanites. The Israelites destroyed their towns as an offering to Jehovah, and so the place was named Hormah [meaning destruction].
Notes
1. The Israelites, who have no confidence that they can excel in battle without a little divine help, call upon Jehovah to give them an edge with the Canaanites of Arad who have attacked them. If victorious, they promise to destroy all their towns as a dedication to Jehovah. Considering how much Jehovah loves death and destruction, this was no doubt an attractive offer to him. It is interesting how most offerings to Jehovah involve destruction, slaughtering, killing, burning. Most ancient peoples and, later, Christians and Muslims would make constructive dedications to their gods -- temples and shrines, mosques and cathedrals. These seem to be less common among the early Israelites, who, after all, have had little capacity to build anything, except for the Tabernacle, which is merely a fancy, mobile tent.
2. Denied entry into the Promised Land, the wandering Israelites enter a period in which they make war upon any people they happen to encounter. Their indiscriminate warfare meets with Jehovah's approval and he lends them continuing aid.
3. Arad in the northern Negev was located about 20 miles west of the Dead Sea ( 5 miles west of modern Arad and just south of the border of the modern West Bank). A very ancient Canaanite settlement, it dates back to 4000 BC, but was abandoned about 2650 BC. It was still deserted during the period of the Exodus and not reoccupied until the 11th Century BC. Its inclusion in the narrative is, therefore, indisputably anachronistic. The location of Hormah (or Zephath) is unknown.
Tuesday, May 5, 2015
Rebellion Against Moses
(Book of Numbers 14:1 - 14:45)
Throughout the entire community there was an outcry; the people were weeping and wailing all through the night. The Israelites brought their complaints to Moses and Aaron, telling them, "If only we had died in Egypt, or perished in the desert! Why is Jehovah leading us into this land only to be slaughtered in battle? Our wives and children will be carried off as captives of war. Wouldn't it be better for us to return to Egypt?" And they said to one another, "Let us choose a leader and journey back to Egypt."
Moses and Aaron then fell on their faces before the gathered assembly of the people of Israel. Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, two who were among the party that had scouted out the land, rent their garments and addressed the entire congregation. "The land we traveled through and explored was an exceeding fine land. If Jehovah is pleased with us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land flowing with milk and honey. But do not rebel against Jehovah. And have no fear of the inhabitants of that land, for we will devour them. Their defenses will crumble, with Jehovah on our side. We need not fear them."
But the congregation were all bent on stoning them. At that point the magnificence of Jehovah appeared before all the Israelites at the entrance to the Sanctum. Jehovah complained to Moses, "How long are these people going to treat me with such contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, despite all the miracles I have performed in their presence? I will disown them. I will strike them with plague and pestilence. I will then create from your descendants a nation far greater and stronger than they."
Moses voiced his objection to Jehovah. "But the Egyptians will hear about it! You used your power to liberate the people and bring them out of Egypt. The Egyptians will tell the inhabitants of this land about it. They are well aware that you, Jehovah, are among your people, personally appearing before them, hovering above them in your airship, leading them by day in a cylindrical object that is lit up at night. If you obliterate your people in one fell swoop, then the nations that hear this report about you will say, 'Jehovah was incapable of settling his people in the land he promised to give them, so he killed them all in the desert.' Please, Jehovah, manifest your power as when you proclaimed, 'Jehovah is slow to anger, filled with unfailing loyalty, forgiving of sin and rebellion -- yet by no means excusing the guilty, laying punishment for the sins of the fathers not only upon their children, but upon their grandchildren and great-grandchildren.' In keeping with the depth of your loving mercy, please pardon the sins of these people, just as you have pardoned them from the time we set out from Egypt till now."
Jehovah responded, "I will pardon them as you have requested. Even so, as I live, as the magnificence of Jehovah will spread across the face of entire earth, the people who witnessed my power and the miracles I performed in Egypt and in the desert, but who have doubted me time and time again and refused to do what I have told them, not one of them will be permitted to see the land I promised their ancestors I would give them: none who have shown their contempt for me will ever see it. But because my servant Caleb is of a different mind and follows me with unswerving fidelity, I will settle him in the land that he scouted, and his descendants will occupy it.
"Since the Amalekites and the Canaanites control the valleys, you should turn back tomorrow and follow the route to the desert along the Red Sea."
Jehovah also told Moses and Aaron, "How long is this wicked community going to rail against me? I have heard the complaints these Israelites make against me. Well then, you can tell them this, 'As surely as I live, proclaims Jehovah, I will do to you exactly what I heard you say would happen to you. You will drop dead in this very desert -- every one of you 20 years old or more and registered in the census who has spoken out against me. I can assure you that none of you will enter the land I swore to give to you -- except for Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. The children that you said will become captives of war I will bring in to the land that you objected to and introduce them to it. As for you, you will all drop dead in the desert. Your children will remain wanderers in the desert for 40 years and will suffer the penalty for your faithlessness until the last of your carcasses is entirely swallowed up by the desert. Because the scouts explored the land for 40 days, you must wander for 40 years, a day for each year, as punishment for your sins. You will then find out what it's like to have me as an enemy. I, Jehovah, have spoken. I will do these things without fail to every member of the community who conspired against me. They will come to their end here in the desert and here they will die.'"
Thus the men whom Moses had dispatched as scouts and who had returned to incite the community against Moses with a false report about the land -- the men who were responsible for spreading that false report -- were struck down and died in front of the Inner Sanctum. Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh were the only members of the party sent out to scout the land that were still alive.
When Moses conveyed Jehovah's words to the Israelites, they were moved to grief. And so early the next morning they journeyed to the ridge overlooking the hill country and announced, " To be sure we have sinned, but now we are ready to go into the land promised to us by Jehovah."
Moses challenged them, "Why are you disobeying the orders of Jehovah? This will not be successful. Don’t go! Jehovah will not be on your side. You will be routed by your enemies, for the Amalekites and the Canaanites will confront you there. Because you have turned away from Jehovah, he will not fight for you and you will fall in battle."
But the people defiantly went the ridge overlooking the hill country, (although neither Moses nor the Chest of Sacred Records left the camp). The Amalekites and Cannaanites who inhabited the hill country came down and attacked them, driving them all the way back to Hormah.
Notes
1. Moses, who, despite the aid of Jehovah, has consistently had trouble cementing his position as national as well as religious leader, is faced again with a rebellion. The yearnings of the people to return to Egypt might be understandable were it not for the presence of Jehovah. Have they not witnessed the demonstrations of his power and his willingness to afflict death and destruction on an epic scale? Yet, they still seem to have no fear of him, even as they have lost confidence in Moses. The Israelties may be described not only as rebellious and disloyal, but stupid as well.
2. Jehovah is beside himself with exasperation. His Chosen People just won't respect or obey him, no matter how many miracles he performs or how much he puts the fear of God in them. And so he's pretty much decided to wipe them off the face of the earth and start again, creating a new nation from the descendants of Moses (and apparently not minding to wait 400 years for that to happen). Of course, we have seen before Jehovah's recourse to mass murder and so his threats are to be taken seriously. Moses, recognizing that his god has lapsed again into his psycho mode, mollifies him and shames him into relenting. He appeals to his honor: he must keep his word, fulfill his promises. But he first appeals to his vanity: his reputation would suffer if the Egyptians and other peoples found out about his failure. (It is odd that the guideline for divine behavior is, "What would the Egyptians think?"!)
3. Moses refers to Jehovah's forgiving nature. We've seen little of that, and this seems no more than flattery on Moses’ part. But he also mentions how he punishes the guilty person -- and the guilty person's children, and grandchildren, and great grandchildren. The concepts of ancestral and familial guilt, which civilized people today deplore and regard as grossly unfair, is a mainstay of Jehovan justice. Vindictiveness is thus deemed a great virtue: apparently the longer you can harbor grievances and punish wrongs, the nobler your character.
4. Moses declares that it is well known that Jehovah is with the Israelites on their journeys. (Moses keeps abreast of all the international news.) One may conclude that when Jehovah appears in the Inner Sanctum, he comes down not from Heaven, but from the heavens, that the ever-present cloud/pillar of fire is a cylindrical airship in which Jehovah rides. Otherwise, Jehovah could not personally accompany the Israelites.
5. Although Jehovah decides not to kill off his people, he is determined that none of them (save the loyal Joshua and Caleb) be allowed to enter the Promised Land, but must die in the desert, with their children wandering for 40 years. Jehovah seems to take delight in inflicting punishment and is very pleased with himself when he kills, by some means, the 10 scouts who circulated the false report that turned the people against Jehovah.
6. The Israelites, against Jehovah's order, enter the Promised Land, but, being taught another lesson and punished for defying Jehovah, they are defeated by the native inhabitants and driven back. The bottom line is: the Israelites must not take action on their own. Jehovah must make all the decisions, do all the thinking for them. They can't win in battle, travel, or even eat without Jehovah's help. They can't choose their own leader. They can't decide where they want to emigrate. And they certainly can't choose their own religion or manner of worship. Instead of being slaves to the Egyptians, the Israelites find they have even less freedom as slaves of Jehovah.
7. The Amalekites, the archenemies of the Israelites, were nomadic inhabitants of Edom, supposedly descended from Amalek, a grandson of Esau, the elder son of Isaac. The Canaanites, supposed descended from a son of Ham, lived in the area west of the River Jordan, north of Edom. Their number included the Phoenicians, who lived to the north in what is now Lebanon. From 1550 to 1200 BC, which probably embraces the period of the Exodus, Canaan was controlled to various degrees by the Egyptians, although this fact does not seem to be part of the biblical narrative. Hormah’s location is not known. It was likely a city situated in northwestern Negev.
Throughout the entire community there was an outcry; the people were weeping and wailing all through the night. The Israelites brought their complaints to Moses and Aaron, telling them, "If only we had died in Egypt, or perished in the desert! Why is Jehovah leading us into this land only to be slaughtered in battle? Our wives and children will be carried off as captives of war. Wouldn't it be better for us to return to Egypt?" And they said to one another, "Let us choose a leader and journey back to Egypt."
Moses and Aaron then fell on their faces before the gathered assembly of the people of Israel. Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, two who were among the party that had scouted out the land, rent their garments and addressed the entire congregation. "The land we traveled through and explored was an exceeding fine land. If Jehovah is pleased with us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land flowing with milk and honey. But do not rebel against Jehovah. And have no fear of the inhabitants of that land, for we will devour them. Their defenses will crumble, with Jehovah on our side. We need not fear them."
But the congregation were all bent on stoning them. At that point the magnificence of Jehovah appeared before all the Israelites at the entrance to the Sanctum. Jehovah complained to Moses, "How long are these people going to treat me with such contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, despite all the miracles I have performed in their presence? I will disown them. I will strike them with plague and pestilence. I will then create from your descendants a nation far greater and stronger than they."
Moses voiced his objection to Jehovah. "But the Egyptians will hear about it! You used your power to liberate the people and bring them out of Egypt. The Egyptians will tell the inhabitants of this land about it. They are well aware that you, Jehovah, are among your people, personally appearing before them, hovering above them in your airship, leading them by day in a cylindrical object that is lit up at night. If you obliterate your people in one fell swoop, then the nations that hear this report about you will say, 'Jehovah was incapable of settling his people in the land he promised to give them, so he killed them all in the desert.' Please, Jehovah, manifest your power as when you proclaimed, 'Jehovah is slow to anger, filled with unfailing loyalty, forgiving of sin and rebellion -- yet by no means excusing the guilty, laying punishment for the sins of the fathers not only upon their children, but upon their grandchildren and great-grandchildren.' In keeping with the depth of your loving mercy, please pardon the sins of these people, just as you have pardoned them from the time we set out from Egypt till now."
Jehovah responded, "I will pardon them as you have requested. Even so, as I live, as the magnificence of Jehovah will spread across the face of entire earth, the people who witnessed my power and the miracles I performed in Egypt and in the desert, but who have doubted me time and time again and refused to do what I have told them, not one of them will be permitted to see the land I promised their ancestors I would give them: none who have shown their contempt for me will ever see it. But because my servant Caleb is of a different mind and follows me with unswerving fidelity, I will settle him in the land that he scouted, and his descendants will occupy it.
"Since the Amalekites and the Canaanites control the valleys, you should turn back tomorrow and follow the route to the desert along the Red Sea."
Jehovah also told Moses and Aaron, "How long is this wicked community going to rail against me? I have heard the complaints these Israelites make against me. Well then, you can tell them this, 'As surely as I live, proclaims Jehovah, I will do to you exactly what I heard you say would happen to you. You will drop dead in this very desert -- every one of you 20 years old or more and registered in the census who has spoken out against me. I can assure you that none of you will enter the land I swore to give to you -- except for Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. The children that you said will become captives of war I will bring in to the land that you objected to and introduce them to it. As for you, you will all drop dead in the desert. Your children will remain wanderers in the desert for 40 years and will suffer the penalty for your faithlessness until the last of your carcasses is entirely swallowed up by the desert. Because the scouts explored the land for 40 days, you must wander for 40 years, a day for each year, as punishment for your sins. You will then find out what it's like to have me as an enemy. I, Jehovah, have spoken. I will do these things without fail to every member of the community who conspired against me. They will come to their end here in the desert and here they will die.'"
Thus the men whom Moses had dispatched as scouts and who had returned to incite the community against Moses with a false report about the land -- the men who were responsible for spreading that false report -- were struck down and died in front of the Inner Sanctum. Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh were the only members of the party sent out to scout the land that were still alive.
When Moses conveyed Jehovah's words to the Israelites, they were moved to grief. And so early the next morning they journeyed to the ridge overlooking the hill country and announced, " To be sure we have sinned, but now we are ready to go into the land promised to us by Jehovah."
Moses challenged them, "Why are you disobeying the orders of Jehovah? This will not be successful. Don’t go! Jehovah will not be on your side. You will be routed by your enemies, for the Amalekites and the Canaanites will confront you there. Because you have turned away from Jehovah, he will not fight for you and you will fall in battle."
But the people defiantly went the ridge overlooking the hill country, (although neither Moses nor the Chest of Sacred Records left the camp). The Amalekites and Cannaanites who inhabited the hill country came down and attacked them, driving them all the way back to Hormah.
Notes
1. Moses, who, despite the aid of Jehovah, has consistently had trouble cementing his position as national as well as religious leader, is faced again with a rebellion. The yearnings of the people to return to Egypt might be understandable were it not for the presence of Jehovah. Have they not witnessed the demonstrations of his power and his willingness to afflict death and destruction on an epic scale? Yet, they still seem to have no fear of him, even as they have lost confidence in Moses. The Israelties may be described not only as rebellious and disloyal, but stupid as well.
2. Jehovah is beside himself with exasperation. His Chosen People just won't respect or obey him, no matter how many miracles he performs or how much he puts the fear of God in them. And so he's pretty much decided to wipe them off the face of the earth and start again, creating a new nation from the descendants of Moses (and apparently not minding to wait 400 years for that to happen). Of course, we have seen before Jehovah's recourse to mass murder and so his threats are to be taken seriously. Moses, recognizing that his god has lapsed again into his psycho mode, mollifies him and shames him into relenting. He appeals to his honor: he must keep his word, fulfill his promises. But he first appeals to his vanity: his reputation would suffer if the Egyptians and other peoples found out about his failure. (It is odd that the guideline for divine behavior is, "What would the Egyptians think?"!)
3. Moses refers to Jehovah's forgiving nature. We've seen little of that, and this seems no more than flattery on Moses’ part. But he also mentions how he punishes the guilty person -- and the guilty person's children, and grandchildren, and great grandchildren. The concepts of ancestral and familial guilt, which civilized people today deplore and regard as grossly unfair, is a mainstay of Jehovan justice. Vindictiveness is thus deemed a great virtue: apparently the longer you can harbor grievances and punish wrongs, the nobler your character.
4. Moses declares that it is well known that Jehovah is with the Israelites on their journeys. (Moses keeps abreast of all the international news.) One may conclude that when Jehovah appears in the Inner Sanctum, he comes down not from Heaven, but from the heavens, that the ever-present cloud/pillar of fire is a cylindrical airship in which Jehovah rides. Otherwise, Jehovah could not personally accompany the Israelites.
5. Although Jehovah decides not to kill off his people, he is determined that none of them (save the loyal Joshua and Caleb) be allowed to enter the Promised Land, but must die in the desert, with their children wandering for 40 years. Jehovah seems to take delight in inflicting punishment and is very pleased with himself when he kills, by some means, the 10 scouts who circulated the false report that turned the people against Jehovah.
6. The Israelites, against Jehovah's order, enter the Promised Land, but, being taught another lesson and punished for defying Jehovah, they are defeated by the native inhabitants and driven back. The bottom line is: the Israelites must not take action on their own. Jehovah must make all the decisions, do all the thinking for them. They can't win in battle, travel, or even eat without Jehovah's help. They can't choose their own leader. They can't decide where they want to emigrate. And they certainly can't choose their own religion or manner of worship. Instead of being slaves to the Egyptians, the Israelites find they have even less freedom as slaves of Jehovah.
7. The Amalekites, the archenemies of the Israelites, were nomadic inhabitants of Edom, supposedly descended from Amalek, a grandson of Esau, the elder son of Isaac. The Canaanites, supposed descended from a son of Ham, lived in the area west of the River Jordan, north of Edom. Their number included the Phoenicians, who lived to the north in what is now Lebanon. From 1550 to 1200 BC, which probably embraces the period of the Exodus, Canaan was controlled to various degrees by the Egyptians, although this fact does not seem to be part of the biblical narrative. Hormah’s location is not known. It was likely a city situated in northwestern Negev.
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